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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

AM Hucks: Let’s Milk It for All It’s Worth

So, there I was minding my own business when Danelle Reagan and Tracy Shewmake stepped through our elevator – with Sophie, a brown-and-white goat from a Spokane Valley farm. Some old goats have visited the S-R over the years. But this was a young one, 4 1/2 weeks old – with my name on it. KCSD Capt. Ben Wolfinger had shipped Sophie my way, probably as a thank-you for well-intentioned Huckleberries that I've dropped at his doorstep over the years. Now, I could tell you about the time I spent as a pre-teen milking goats with my cousin in Manteca, Calif. – a never-ending night out of Dante's "Inferno." But there's no shrink or couch nearby as I write this. So, I'll lay out the options I faced last week: Allow the goat to browse in the S-R's CdA office (which I considered seriously). Or make a doughnation to Wishing Star Foundation and send the drive-by goaters on their way. Or make a $75 doughnation to the foundation and ask Tracy and Danelle to goat someone else – say, city P&Zer Mary Souza with whom I have an ethnic connection (read: she married a Portuguese fella, and I am a Portuguese fella). Other names came to mind first: Sheriff Rocky Watson, Coeur d'Alene Press Editor Mike Patrick and Prosecutor Bill Douglas. I figured I should pass on goating-for-dollars with Prosecutor Douglas until after the Supreme Court renders its decision on his infamous e-mails. I settled on Mary, who has made headlines with her outspoken criticism of the city's urban renewal district. In other words, she has gotten their goat. This week, she gets mine.



Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.